Wood on Words: 'Offal’ is awful but not the same thing

Friday

Feb 25, 2011 at 12:01 AMFeb 25, 2011 at 8:28 PM

The past two weeks I’ve written about the most frequently mixed-up sound-alike words encountered in my years as a copy editor. As a bit of a departure, here are some relatively new ones that aren’t contenders for the list — not yet, anyway.

Barry Wood

The past two weeks I’ve written about the most frequently mixed-up sound-alike words encountered in my years as a copy editor. As a bit of a departure, here are some relatively new ones that aren’t contenders for the list — not yet, anyway.

Each of the first three has appeared just once — and once is enough. Up first we have a reference to the A-bomb as an “offal” weapon.

I’m fairly confident the intended word was “awful,” in this case conveying “dreadful; appalling” or “causing fear; terrifying” or “very bad, ugly, unpleasant, etc.” Or maybe a combination of all three.

“Offal” is a noun. Specifically, it means “waste parts; especially the entrails, etc., of a butchered animal.” Generally, it can be a synonym for “garbage.” The negativity is certainly right for the A-bomb usage, but the meaning isn’t.

Next, there was an unusual take on a cliche: “the 800-pound guerrilla in the room.”

For this phrase for an obvious issue that’s obviously being ignored, we need “gorilla” — or perhaps “elephant,” which is tougher to confuse — not “guerrilla.”

A “guerrilla” (often misspelled with just one “r”) is a “member of a small defensive force of irregular soldiers, usually volunteers, making surprise raids, especially behind the lines of an invading enemy army.”

The way the world is today, we’re more accustomed to thinking of them as enemy combatants, as reflected in Webster’s definition for the adjective: “characteristic of guerrillas; undercover, clandestine, etc., or radical, subversive, etc.”

Although an “800-pound guerrilla” would certainly pose problems that should be difficult to ignore, the phrase refers to “the largest and most powerful of the great apes.” And in fairness, gorillas more typically weigh less than 500 pounds — still more than most guerrillas.

And then there was the line about education options that mentioned “charters and magnate programs.” Of course, it should be “magnet” programs.

A “magnate,” from the Late Latin “magnas” (plural “magnates”) for “great man,” is “a very important or influential person in any field of activity, especially in a large business or industry.”

Come to think of it, if we want our students to aim high, perhaps we should consider “magnate” programs.

Two other pairs have made recent appearances:

“Verses” mistaken for “versus.” One solution is to avoid using “versus” except for court cases and competitive sports, where it works well.

In Latin, “versus” means “toward, turned in the direction of,” from the verb “vertere,” “to turn.” We use it in English to mean “in contest against” or “in contrast with; by way of an alternative to.”

As for “verses,” which comes from the same Latin verb, it’s all about “sequences of words.” The connection, apparently, is turning the earth and turning a phrase.

“The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories” says “verse” is from the Old English “fers,” from the Latin “versus” that meant “a turn of the plough, a furrow, a line of writing.”

Now that’s a versatile word — and, yes, “versatile” also comes from “vertere.”

“Overseas” mistaken for “oversees,” as in “the board that overseas legalized gambling.”

“Overseas” tells us that something is elsewhere: “abroad” or “over or beyond the sea.”

To “oversee” is “to supervise,” “to catch sight of secretly or accidentally” or “to survey.” When converted to a noun, it becomes one of those wonderful words with two opposite meanings.

“Oversight” is either “supervision, especially when careful or vigilant” or “an unintentional, careless mistake or omission.” Too many people and institutions responsible for oversight are also responsible for too many oversights.

Punctuation Station

Another hyphen headache: Most words ending in “-ly” are adverbs. They don’t need hyphens to do their job.

So, no hyphens in such phrases as “widely read newspaper,” "terminally ill patient,” “commonly used argument” and so on.

But not all “-ly” words are adverbs, so be on the lookout for “family-run business” and the like.

Contact Barry Wood at bwood@rrstar.com or read his blog at blogs.e-rockford.com/woodonwords/.

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